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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITYSTRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FORCOUNTERING TERRORISM ANDTARGETED VIOLENCESEPTEMBER 2019
Kevin McAleenanSecretary of Homeland SecurityThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of thedevastating 9/11 attacks, and charged with coordinating and unifying the Nation’shomeland security efforts. Today, just past the eighteenth anniversary of thosehorrible events, the country confronts an evolving challenge of terrorism andtargeted violence. While the threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations remainsa priority for the Department, and for the Nation as a whole, we have made greatprogress in our ability to detect, prevent, protect against, and mitigate the threatsthat these groups pose. At the same time, we face a growing threat from domesticterrorism and other threats originating at home, including the mass attacks thathave too frequently struck our houses of worship, our schools, our workplaces, ourfestivals, and our shopping spaces. I am proud to introduce DHS’s new StrategicFramework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence, which explains how wewill use the tools and expertise that have protected and strengthened the countryfrom foreign terrorist organizations to address the evolving challenges of today.It is important to appreciate the great progress that the Department has made since it was founded. DHS hasadopted a multi-tiered approach to the lines of security we pursue, including aviation security and border security.By gaining the ability to recognize hostile actors long before they reach our borders, we have made our Nation’sborders not our first line of defense, but one of many. We have increased the sharing of information about terroristthreats between the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial entities, as well as private sectorpartners. We have protected America’s critical infrastructure and empowered American communities. I wouldpersonally like to thank the Department’s dedicated operators and personnel for performing their duties with thevigilance, integrity, and true sense of service that the American people deserve.But our work is not finished. Indeed, this is a pivotal moment in the Department’s history, as we explicitlyacknowledge, and adapt our tools to properly confront, the threats of today. These threats have become morecomplex, more interconnected, more intertwined with technological advances, and closer to home. As the threatsevolve, we must do so as well.While the Strategic Framework that follows is significant in many ways, I would like to highlight six contributionsthat I consider particularly noteworthy:1) This is not just a Strategic Framework for countering terrorism, but rather it addresses both terrorism andtargeted violence. The Federal Government has been moving toward recognizing terrorism and targetedviolence as intertwined and interrelated for some time, but this is the first national-level strategy to explicitlystate that terrorism and targeted violence overlap, intersect, and interact as problems, and that they necessitatea shared set of solutions.2) We introduce new methods of creating a more comprehensive understanding of the challenge of terrorismand targeted violence, both within and outside the Federal Government. The Strategic Framework introducesa new annual assessment that will explicate the state of the threat to the Homeland. This new report willhelp to inform all levels of government and the broader public. A common understanding of threats withinthe Homeland will support interagency policymaking, agency prioritizations, resource allocations, andinter-governmental partnerships. The Strategic Framework also introduces a mechanism for crafting a newdefinition of the key concept of targeted violence, which will further help to ensure a common understandingof the threat, allowing for better discussion, approaches to mitigation, and resource allocation.3) This Strategic Framework clearly elucidates the nature of today’s domestic challenges, including providing anextended assessment of the dangers posed by domestic terrorists, including racially-and ethnically-motivatedviolent extremists, particularly white supremacist violent extremists.
4) This Strategic Framework is designed to assess the Department’s past and provide a guidepost to its future.The Strategy identifies the Department’s successes, and explains how they can be parlayed into addressingthe multifaceted challenges of today.5) The Strategic Framework provides a comprehensive treatment of the preventive tools that can be brought tobear against these threats, regardless of the varying ideological or non-ideological drivers. Importantly, theStrategic Framework explicitly recognizes the need to support and protect our most vulnerable populations,our youth in particular.6) This Strategic Framework emphasizes the importance of transparency, the protections of civil rights and civilliberties, and the protection of data in a digital age.DHS’s Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence is intentionally forward-looking inits understanding of technology’s role—as a factor that can exacerbate problems, but also one that can providenew solutions to combat the threats we confront. This document will strategically position the Department to dealwith future technological advances, as well as other new and emerging threats. The complex and evolving natureof the threats we face today demands that the American people should know our strategy for countering them,and feel comfortable with the transparency of our execution. We will follow this strategy with a public action plan,explaining to the American people in greater detail how we will accomplish the strategic goals we lay out herein.We will implement this new approach to combating terrorism and targeted violence by harnessing theDepartment’s unique multi-purpose architecture. I am confident in our ability to rise to the challenge throughrelentless resilience, determination, and unity of effort. As Acting Secretary, I made a promise to the Americanpeople to spare no effort in safeguarding our homeland security. I am confident that the Strategic Framework willhelp to make our Nation safer and more resilient.I am honored to lead this new Strategic Framework that the Department is introducing.Sincerely,Kevin K. McAleenanActing Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland SecuritySeptember 2019
TABLE OF CONTENTS1Executive Summary4Introduction8The Evolving Nature of the Threat12Guiding Principles13Goal 1: Understand the Evolving Terrorism and Targeted Violence Threat Environment, and SupportPartners in the Homeland Security Enterprise Through This Specialized Knowledge.17Goal 2: Prevent Terrorists and Other Hostile Actors from Entering the United States, and Deny Themthe Opportunity to Exploit the Nation’s Trade, Immigration, and Domestic and InternationalTravel Systems.22Goal 3: Prevent Terrorism and Targeted Violence.28Goal 4: Enhance U.S. Infrastructure Protections and Community Preparedness34Conclusion5i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe United States faces an increasingly complex, and evolving, threat of terrorism and targeted violence. Aswas the case sixteen years ago, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s founding, foreign terroristorganizations remain intent on striking the Homeland, whether through directed attacks or by inspiring susceptible individuals in the United States. Today, though, the Nation also faces a growing threat from domesticactors inspired by violent extremist ideologies, as well as from those whose attacks are not ideologically driven.Domestic threat actors often plan and carry out their acts of violence alone and with little apparent warning, inways that limit the effectiveness of traditional law enforcement investigation and disruption methods. We mustconfront these evolving challenges by building on existing best practices developed against foreign terroristthreats, identifying promising new approaches, and developing a strategic vision that provides a more holisticapproach to preventing terrorism and targeted violence that originates here at home. In an age of online radicalization to violent extremism and disparate threats, we must not only counter foreign enemies trying to strikeus from abroad, but also those enemies, foreign and domestic, that seek to spur to violence our youth and ourdisaffected—encouraging them to strike in the heart of our Nation, and attack the unity of our vibrant, diverseAmerican society.The Department has experienced clear successes in its mission to thwart foreign terrorist enemies. We havedenied them entry, stopping them at our border or even before they reach it. We have integrated and supportedthe efforts of Federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and international partners, gathering andsharing information and intelligence, and providing the resources they require to counter terrorism in their areasof responsibility. We have strengthened our communities. As a Nation, we are more resilient than ever. Ourability to prevent foreign-origin attacks against the Homeland is unmatched across the globe. These successesprovide a roadmap for addressing the threat we face today.This Strategic Framework outlines the Department’s vision for reinvesting in programs and efforts that haveenhanced our security, while incorporating key strategic changes that will allow us to address the threats wecurrently face. In addition to addressing terrorism, this Strategic Framework encompasses targeted violence,such as attacks on schools, house of worship, public spaces, and transportation systems, and other forms ofracially, ethnically, and religiously motivated violence that can overlap and intersect with terrorism. The Strategyrecognizes the critical role advances in technology have played in facilitating the spread, evolution, and interaction of violent ideologies and narratives of personal grievance, and the subsequent security implications, bothfor the Homeland and around the world.Our Strategic Framework is crafted with the conviction that the Department must play a vital role in securingthe privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of Americans and others. Privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties areessential. They should be cherished and safeguarded. This is designed to promote and preserve them. Inaddressing terrorism and targeted violence, we are steadfast that the role of the Department is to protectAmerican communities, not to police thought or speech.The Department of Homeland Security Strategy for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence is designed toimplement the White House’s 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Strategy for Counterterrorism,as well as related national policy guidance. While other departments and agencies have vital roles to play, thisframework describes the Department’s vision for addressing terrorism and targeted violence threatening theHomeland. The goals, objectives, and priority actions promoted herein will also enhance the Department’sability to counter transnational criminal organizations, human traffickers, and other criminal threats.The challenges facing our Nation are significant, but through a whole-of-society approach that empowers ourcitizens and our state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities, as well as our private sector, non-governmental,and community leaders, the Department of Homeland Security will continue to adapt ahead of evolving threats,and will enhance the safety of our Nation.1
THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK OUTLINES THEDEPARTMENT’S VISION AROUNDTHE FOLLOWING GOALS:Goal 1: Understand the evolving terrorism and targeted violence threatenvironment, and support partners in the homeland security enterprisethrough this specialized knowledge.Goal 2: Prevent terrorists and other hostile actors from entering the United States,and deny them the opportunity to exploit the Nation’s trade, immigration,and domestic and international travel systems.Goal 3: Prevent terrorism and targeted violence.Goal 4: Enhance U.S. infrastructure protections and community preparedness.2
The core capabilities contained in the National Preparedness Goal are the distinct critical elementsnecessary to ensure a secure and resilient Nation. There are 32 core capabilities that span the fivemission areas. Three core capabilities, Planning, Public Information and Warning, and OperationalCoordination are common to all mission areas. The below chart shows how the core capabilitiessupport the four goals identified in the Department of Homeland Security Strategic Frameworkfor Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence. Although the content of this strategy emphasizes core capabilities in the Prevention, Protection, and Mitigation mission areas, Goal 4 focuseson enhancing whole community preparedness, thus spanning all five mission areas, to includeResponse and Recovery.3
INTRODUCTIONNearly two decades after the 9/11 attacks, terrorism and targeted violenceThe threats ofcontinue to pose a grave threat to the Homeland in ways that have discerniblyevolved. Terrorism is likely a familiar term to most readers.1 The term targetedterrorism andviolence may be less familiar. For purposes of this Strategy, targeted violencetargeted violencerefers to any incident of violence that implicates homeland security and/or U.S.increasingly intersectDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS) activities, and in which a known or2knowable attacker selects a particular target prior to the violent attack. Unlikewith one another, andterrorism, targeted violence includes attacks otherwise lacking a clearly discernthere is likewise someible political, ideological, or religious motivation, but that are of such severity andalignment in the toolsmagnitude as to suggest an intent to inflict a degree of mass injury, destruction,or death commensurate with known terrorist tactics. In the Homeland, targetedthat can be used toviolence has a significant impact on the safety and security of our communicounter them.ties, schools, places of worship, and other public gatherings. The threats ofterrorism and targeted violence increasingly intersect with one another, andthere is likewise some alignment in the tools that can be used to counter them. Thus, rather than dealing withterrorism and targeted violence as distinct phenomena, this Strategy addresses the problems, and the toolsthat can be wielded to address them, together.3“”Foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) continue to plot against the United States, and the Department executeson a daily basis its mission of preventing another attack from abroad.4 Unfortunately, the severity and numberof domestic threats have also grown. Homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) are influenced by the ideologiesand messages of FTOs.5 There has been a concerning rise in attacks by individuals motivated by a variety ofdomestic terrorist ideologies,6 such as racially- and ethnically-motivated violent extremism, including whitesupremacist violent extremism, anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism, and other ideologicalThe Department of Homeland Security defines terrorism as any activity involving a criminally unlawful act that is dangerous tohuman life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources, and that appears intended to intimidate or coerce acivilian population, to influence government policy by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a government by massdestruction, assassination, or kidnapping.2The concept of targeted violence was coined and first defined in Robert A. Fein, Bryan Vossekuil & Gwen A. Holden, “ThreatAssessment: An Approach to Prevent Targeted Violence,” Research in Action (National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department ofJustice), July 1995. All major subsequent works that have explored targeted violence—including studies published by the U.S.Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, among others—have either utilized or based their understanding of the concepton this definition. This Strategy does so as well. Given the growing importance of the concept of targeted violence, a more precisedefinition is needed, as one of the priority actions outlined in Goal 1.1 makes clear.3This Strategic Framework recognizes that the Federal Government has a role in addressing terrorism and targeted violence whenthe severity and magnitude of an attack would overwhelm the capacity of State and local government prevention, protection, andresponse efforts. The Federal Government primarily does this through informing, training, and equipping our SLTT partners. Thecapabilities or capacity developed from Federal investments also benefit other aspects of SLTT partners’ missions. For example,enhanced analysis and information-sharing capabilities may be invested in by the Federal Government to ensure we have an effective two-way information sharing capability between SLTT and the Federal Government to share terrorism threat information, butthe capability may also be leveraged by the SLTT partner to address local criminal challenges.4This Strategic Framework defines a foreign terrorist organization in the same manner as does 8 U.S.C. § 1189, as a foreign organization that engages in terrorist activity or terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity and terrorism,which threatens the security of United States nationals or the national security of the United States. The Strategy defines it as suchregardless of whether the group has been placed on the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization List.5DHS defines a homegrown violent extremist as a person of any citizenship who has lived and/or operated primarily in the UnitedStates or its territories who advocates, is engaged in, or is preparing to engage in ideologically-motivated terrorist activities (includingproviding support to terrorism) in furtherance of political or social objectives promoted by a FTO, but is acting independently of aFTO’s direction.6The Department defines domestic terrorism as an act of unlawful violence, or a threat of force or violence, that is dangerous tohuman life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources, and is intended to effect societal, political, or otherchange, committed by a group or person based and operating entirely within the United States or its territories. Unlike HVEs,domestic terrorists are not inspired by a foreign terrorist group. It should be noted that many groups and individuals defined as“domestic terrorists” are becoming increasingly transnational in outlook and activities. The current label we employ to describethem, which comes from the Federal Government’s lexicon, should not obscure this reality.14
strains that drive terrorist violence. Hate crimes and non-ideologicallymotivated large-scale or disproportionately lethal acts of mass violence,including mass attacks, round out the picture of terrorism and targetedviolence afflicting the Homeland.7“ The Department hasused a multi-tieredapproach to protection—employing cutting-edgetechnology, enhancingits intelligence-gatheringand analytic capabilities,providing advancedtraining to our frontlinepersonnel, and buildingthe capacity of ourinternational partners.”While the terrorist threat remains serious, the Federal Government—inconjunction with state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT), and private sectorpartners—has had numerous successes in protecting the Homelandand preventing foreign terrorist attacks in the years since 9/11. DHS hasplayed an important role. The Department’s achievements in preventingforeign-origin attacks illuminate the strategies, tactics, and tools it mustbring to bear to address the disparate challenges of today. The Departmenthas used a multi-tiered approach to protection—employing cutting-edgetechnology, enhancing its intelligence-gathering and analytic capabilities,providing advanced training to our frontline personnel, and building thecapacity of our international partners. This approach “pushes our bordersoutward” and creates defense-in-depth, a term referring to the creationof multiple mutually supportive layers of defense in lieu of relying on onedefensive line that is vulnerable to a single point of failure. The concept has been employed in contexts thatinclude cybersecurity, where layered defensive mechanisms can thwart cyberattacks, and by militaries, wheredefense-in-depth can be employed against advancing attackers. The Department has applied this concept tomany of the Nation’s security priorities, including border and aviation security. Multiple layers of security andintelligence can provide awareness of hostile actors long before they try to launch an attack.DHS has achieved noteworthy successes in extending our borders outward through the National TargetingCenter (NTC). Screening and vetting are among the Department’s primary counterterrorism functions, andNTC is at the forefront of these efforts. This innovative Center leverages sophisticated targeting tools and alllevels of classified and open-source intelligence in proactive ways to identify emerging threats, including thoseposed by terrorists, terrorist support networks, and transnational criminal organizations. NTC identifies targetsand facilitates interdictions, across all modes of transportation of the passengers and cargo that pose a threatto national security at the earliest possible point prior to arrival in the United States. NTC’s targeting preventsterrorists and their suppliers and facilitators from reaching not only our borders, but often our Hemisphere. TheNTC is one of the most effective counterterrorism tools we have within the Federal Government, and makes ourborders not the first line of defense, but one of many.DHS has also increased the sharing of information regarding terrorist threats between the Federal Government and SLTT entities, as well as private sector partners. Before 9/11, few mechanisms existed to facilitatethe sharing of threat-related information between SLTT agencies and the Federal Government. For example, astreamlined framework did not exist to easily gather and share Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR).8 After identifying this shortcoming, the Department of Justice (DOJ), DHS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), andSLTT partners created the Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) to establish standards for gathering, documenting,processing, analyzing, and sharing terrorism-related SAR information determined to have a potential nexus toterrorism, while protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. Fusion Centers also play a critical role in theU.S. Government’s information-sharing efforts. These State- and locally-operated Centers existed prior to theattacks of 9/11, primarily assisting law enforcement with criminal intelligence analysis. Their mission expandedafter the terrorist attacks, and they were eventually recognized in the 2007 National Security Strategy as theprimary focal points for receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between SLTT,Federal, and private sector partners. Engagement with SLTT and efforts like NSI and National Fusion Centershelp DHS to detect, prevent, protect against, and mitigate threats.DHS also supports American communities in their preparations to respond to and recover from terrorism andThis Strategic Framework defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in partby an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. The Secret Servicedefines mass attacks as acts of intentional violence in public places during which harm was caused to three or more persons.Targeted violence includes, but is not limited to, mass attacks and hate crimes as defined in this Strategy.8SAR refers to official documentation of observed behavior that is reasonably indicative of pre-operational planning related toterrorism or other criminal activities.75
targeted violence. The Department has trained SLTT emergency responders and helped connect communitieswith resources that can support their preparedness efforts. As one example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is engaged in continuous evaluation of the risks that communities face through the Threatand Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) program, which helps SLTT partners identify risks andcapability gaps, develop response plans, and efficiently allocate their resources.As a contributor to the FBI’s interagency Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs), the Department has experiencednumerous successes in investigating and disrupting terrorists and their support systems. JTTFs work diligentlyto investigate and respond to threats and incidents as they occur. Alongside Federal and SLTT partners, DHSagents have been integral in leading JTTF investigations, especially those involving foreign terrorism and transnational crime suspects.DHS’s successes underscore the Department’s capacity to address the evolving challenges of terrorism andtargeted violence. This Strategy represents a recommitment to, and strengthening of, what has worked, andan investment in tools capable of addressing the present challenges confronting our Nation. A critical elementof the Department’s learned expertise is its whole-of-society approach focused on empowering Americansociety.DHS recognizes that this partnership is only possible if the DepartmentSince its inception, therespects and protects the values of the Nation. Since its inception, theDepartment has prioritized civil rights, civil liberties, and individual privacyDepartment has prioritizedprotections in its efforts. These rights must be rigorously guarded. Thecivil rights, civil liberties,Department’s mission can only be achieved when we uphold the rule ofand individual privacylaw, and earn and maintain the trust of the American people. Domesticterrorism and homegrown violent extremism are inherently tied to ideasprotections in its efforts.and ideologies. Planning or committing acts of violence is a crime, whileexpressing or holding radical or extreme views is protected by the FirstAmendment. The Department must take care, while addressing the scourge of violence, to avoid stigmatizingpopulations, infringing on constitutional rights, or attempting to police what Americans should think. Further,how we identify and detect terrorism and targeted violence requires faithful adherence to fair informationpractice principles and privacy-focused Departmental policies. The Department always incorporates privacyprotections in information technology systems, technologies, rulemakings, programs, pilot projects, and otheractivities that involve the planned use of personally identifiable information (PII). The Department must continueto take great care to ensure that its efforts sustain, and do not erode, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.“”“ This Strategy addressesterrorism and targetedviolence based on fourcomplementary organizationalconcepts central to theDepartment’s mission:intelligence, border security,domestic prevention, andpreparedness.”This Strategic Framework addresses terrorism and targeted violencebased on four complementary organizational concepts central to theDepartment’s mission: intelligence, border security, domestic prevention, and preparedness.Strong intelligence capabilities allow the Department and its partnersto understand the nature of the threat facing the Homeland, allowingDHS to prevent and mitigate threats, and prepare communities tobetter respond to and recover from attacks that do occur.Defending the borders is necessary to prevent foreign terrorists andother hostile actors from entering the country. Border security cannotstop violence originating from within America, so the Department alsofocuses on empowering and equipping SLTT prevention and resilience capabilities. Prevention efforts must bemultidisciplinary, and include enhanced whole-of-society partnerships with mental health professionals, socialservice providers, and civil society that can provide “off ramps” away from terrorism and targeted violence,both protecting the American people and reducing the burden on the criminal justice system.The Department also assists its SLTT partners in enhancing infrastructure protections and community preparedness to ensure that, when an attack does occur, its impact can be contained, and those targeted can recoverquickly.6
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THE EVOLVING NATURE OF THE THREATThe Department was founded in the wake of 9/11, and the persistent threats posed by al-Qa’ida dictated thatDHS’s early counterterrorism efforts focused on preventing attacks by FTOs. The threats associated with anumber of FTOs remain an essential priority of DHS’s counterterrorism mission. Yet it is clear that the threat ofterrorism and targeted violence has evolved in important ways. We must evolve with the threat.One change is that more diverse sets of actors and motivations now pose significant security concerns thanat any time since 9/11. Domestic terrorists, motivated by racially- and ethnically-motivated violent extremism,anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism, and other violent extremist ideologies, represent agrowing share of the threat to the Homeland.A second change relates to how Americans, and people across the globe, communicate. At the time ofthe 9/11 attacks, only 54% of the U.S. population used the Internet, compared to 90% of the adult population today. The rest of the world has similarly seen an explosion in Internet usage rates. The fact that all of ourlives are increasingly touched by online activity has brought profound changes, for good and for ill. Violentextremist groups have often proven adept at exploiting the Internet’s potential. Post-9/11 developments in theonline space—including the advent and wide
Secretary of Homeland Security from foreign terrorist organizations to address the evolving challenges of today. It is important to appreciate the great progress that the Department has made since it was founded. DHS has adopted a multi-tiered approach to the lines of security we pursue, including aviatio
